User-plane path selection for the edge service

ABSTRACT

Techniques for a selection or reselection a user-plane path in a mobile network are disclosed herein. A user-plane gateway (GW-U) can be configured to decode a packet received from a control plane gateway (GW-C) in a packet data network gateway (PGW) to determine a forwarding policy. Additionally, the GW-U can decode, from an evolved node B (eNB), an internet protocol (IP) packet having a header field. Furthermore, the GW-U can determine a user-plane path for the IP packet based on a comparison of the header field and the forwarding policy. Based on the determined user-plane path, the GW-U can forward the IP packet to a local application server (AS), encapsulate and forward the IP packet to the PGW, or discard the IP packet. Moreover, the GW-U can encode the IP packet for transmission based on the determined user-plane selection.

PRIORITY CLAIM

This application is a U.S. National Stage Filing under 35 U.S.C. 371from International Application No. PCT/US2016/049418, filed Aug. 30,2016 and published in English as WO 2017/176307 on Oct. 12, 2017, whichis a continuation of and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. 120 toInternational Application No. PCT/CN2016/078780, filed Apr. 8, 2016,each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments pertain to wireless communications. Some embodiments relateto wireless networks including 3GPP (Third Generation PartnershipProject) networks, 3GPP LTE (Long Term Evolution) networks, 3GPP LTE-A(LTE Advanced) networks, and fifth generation (5G) networks, althoughthe scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

BACKGROUND

The selection or reselection ((re)selection) of an efficient user-planepaths can be difficult and complicated. In some instances, thereselection of the user-plane path between a user equipment (UE) and aservice hosting entity residing close to the edge may not be feasible,when the previous path become inefficient. For example, the UE may haveto establish the user-plane path with the edge service hosting as longas the user-plane path is available because of the low latency involvedwith the reselection process. Accordingly, the (re)selection processencounters the challenges with signaling overhead, the path switchinglatency, and a burden of third party service provider.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a system architecture of a mobile network, inaccordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 2 illustrates an example selection and reselection rule definition,in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 3 illustrates an example communication 300 for a user-plane path(re)selection, according to some embodiments;

FIG. 4 illustrates an electronic device, in accordance with someembodiments;

FIG. 5 illustrates another electronic device, in accordance with someembodiments;

FIG. 6 illustrates an example flowchart for a (re)selection a user-planepath, in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 7 illustrates an example flowchart for performing different actionsbased on the user-plane path determined in FIG. 6, in accordance withsome embodiments; and

FIG. 8 illustrates example components of a UE, in accordance to someexample embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings.The same reference numbers may be used in different drawings to identifythe same or similar elements. In the following description, for purposesof explanation and not limitation, specific details are set forth suchas particular structures, architectures, interfaces, techniques, etc. inorder to provide a thorough understanding of the various aspects ofvarious embodiments. However, it will be apparent to those skilled inthe art having the benefit of the present disclosure that the variousaspects of the various embodiments may be practiced in other examplesthat depart from these specific details. In certain instances,descriptions of well-known devices, circuits, and methods are omitted soas not to obscure the description of the various embodiments withunnecessary detail.

FIG. 1 illustrates a system architecture of a mobile network, inaccordance with some embodiments.

According to some embodiments of the present invention, techniques aredescribed for the (re)selection of efficient user plane paths. Incurrent implementations, there has been issues with the reselection ofuser-plane path between a UE and a service hosting entity residing closeto the edge (including the radio access network) when the previous pathbecomes inefficient. For example, the UE may establish the user-planepath with the edge service hosting as long as it is available becausethe low latency is enabled with such selection. In currentimplementations, a local IP access (LIPA) or selected IP traffic offload(SIPTO) tries to resolve the (re)selection issues, but currentimplementations encounters the challenges in the signaling overhead, thepath switching latency and a burden on the third party service provider.

In contrast, according to some embodiments, the (re)selection processreduces signaling overhead. The user-plane path (re)selection isperformed with policy updates only triggered upon a change in the edgeservice deployment. As a result, it is estimated that the amount ofsignaling messages using the embodiments described herein is reduced by30% in comparison with the LIPA or SIPTO (LIPA/SIPTO) implementations.

In some instances, the (re)selection latency is reduced in comparisonwith the LIPA/SIPTO implementations. Unlike the LIPA/SIPTOimplementations, the traffic offloaded to the local network does nothave need interaction between the evolved Node-B (eNB) and the evolvedpacket core (EPC) entities, such as the serving gateway (SGW) and themobility management entity (MME).

Furthermore, the (re)selection techniques described herein can reducethe burden on the third party service provider. For example, unlike thetechniques described herein, the LIPA/SIPTO implementations asked forarchitectural update in the platform of the third party serviceprovider, which increased implementation cost.

The Traffic Offload Function (TOF) is extended as the distributeduser-plane (U-plane) gateway (GW) (GW-U) 105 coupled with the evolvednodeB (eNB or eNodeB) 110 and transparent to the user equipment (UE)115. It allows the connection to the Internet through the networkaddress translation (NAT) functionality.

The controller or control circuitry in the controller-plane (C-plane) ofthe Packet Data Network Gateway (PGW) 120 (GW-C) 125 may configure theU-plane path selection policy defined as the flow table in the GW-U 130through the Xc interface 135. The user-plane traffic from and to the UE115 passes through distributed GW-U 105 where the (General Packet RadioService) GPRS tunneling protocol (GTP) decapsulation and encapsulationis conducted for the selection or reselection ((re)selection) policychecking. The distributed GW-U 105 forwards the user-plane traffic toGW-U 130 in the PGW 120 in default given the absence of the matched(re)selection policy. In some embodiments, the distributed GW-U 105 isto act as the transparent domain name system (DNS) proxy to the UE 115.

The application server (AS) 140 acts as the service providing entityresiding close to the network edge. The AS Management and Orchestration(MANO) 145 entity is in charge of the service deployment in the AS 140.The third party service provider may rely on the AS MANO 145 to deployits service in the specific AS 140 adjacent to the network edge. The ASMANO 145 is able to have the policy and changing rules function (PCRF)150 configure the (re)selection policy in the distributed GW-U 105 forthe traffic offloading to the AS 140 with the edge service through thereception (Rx) interface 155.

In accordance with various embodiments, the (re)selection policy may bedefined according to the flow table 200 as illustrated in FIG. 2. Itshould be noted that the (re)selection policy may be referred to as a“policy,” a “selection policy,” a “reselection policy,” a “forwardingpolicy,” a “routing policy,” and the like. The rule section 205indicates the header field of the packet delivered in the user-planewhich can be used as the matching metric for packet forwarding. The fivetuples in the Internet protocol (IP) header are currently used for theoffloading policy matching. The five tuples include an IP source address210, an IP destination address 215, a port source address 220, a portdestination address 225, and a protocol identity 230.

According to some embodiments, the rule sets can be extended byintroducing other header fields 245. For instance, the tunnel endpointidentifier (TEID) in the GTP header can be used as the matching rule aswell. In some instances, the packet is matches the specific rule onlywhen its header matches all the fields.

For example, given a rule that the User Datagram Protocol (UDP) packetwith the destination port of 53 are to be offloaded, the distributedGW-U 105 can act as the transparent DNS proxy to the UE 115 because allthe DNS requests would be forwarded to it.

The action 240 shows how the GW-U 105 handles the packet with thematching field. Based on a first action 245, the packet is forwarded toa local AS 140, which refer that the user-plane path is switched to thelocal network. Based on a second action 250, the packet is encapsulatedand forwarded to PGW 120, which indicates that the user-plane path isthrough the Evolved Packet Core (EPC). Based on a third action 255, thepacket is dropped, which means that the packet can be discarded.

Additionally, the counter 260 is used to calculate the payload of thepacket matching the rule 205. The counter 260 can enable the offlinecharging without the PGW 120.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example communication 300 for a user-plane path(re)selection, according to some embodiments. The (re)selection can beenabled with the involvement of both an operator's network element and athird party service provider's infrastructure

At operation 302, a third party service provider 350 uses the AS MANO145 entity to setup its service at the AS 140. Then, at operation 304,the third party service provider has its own Global Server LoadBalancing (GSLB) system 355 that creates an Address Name (ANAME) recordassociating the IP address of the AS 140 where the service is deployedwith the distributed GW-U 105 connecting the AS 140. Meanwhile, atoperation 306, the AS MANO 145 notifies the GW-C 125 in the PGW 120 toconfigure the forwarding policy in the distributed GW-U 105 so that theIP packets destined to the AS 140 can be offloaded to the local network.

Additionally, at operation 308, the UE 115 initiates the service requestwith the sending of the DNS request which is forwarded to thedistributed GW-U 105. Then, if there is no cached record in the GW-U105, at operation 310, the DNS request is delivered to the GSLB system355 owned by the third party service provider 350 by following theCanonical Name (CNAME) record in the Public DNS 360 maintained by theoperator. CNAME records may be used to associate one name or service toanother name or another service. At operation 312, the DNS response fromthe GSLB system 355 to the GW-U 105 notifies that the IP address of theAS 140 should be the target for the service delivery. After thereception of the DNS response, the GW-U 105 forwards it to the UE 115 atoperation 314.

Furthermore, with the IP address of the AS 140, the UE 115 attempts toestablish the connection with the AS 140, at operation 316. In addition,the returned DNS response, at operation 312, is cached in the GW-U 105for the potential request in the future.

Subsequently, after the service session has been initiated, the IPpackets, with the destination address to the AS 140, are transmitted tothe AS 140 from the UE 115. Then the distributed GW-U 105 forwards thepackets to the AS 140 in the local network by following the forwardingpolicy configured by the GW-C 125 in the PGW 120.

FIG. 4 illustrates a device 400 in accordance with some embodiments.Device 400 may include control circuitry 410 coupled with the interfacecircuitry 420.

As used herein, the term “circuitry” may refer to, be part of, orinclude an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an electroniccircuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group), and/or memory(shared, dedicated, or group) that execute one or more software orfirmware programs, a combinational logic circuit, and/or other suitablehardware components that provide the described functionality. In someembodiments, the circuitry may be implemented in, or functionsassociated with the circuitry may be implemented by, one or moresoftware or firmware modules. In some embodiments, circuitry may includelogic, at least partially operable in hardware.

The interface circuitry 410 may be configured to communicate with othernetwork entities over various interfaces using appropriate networkingcommunication protocols. The interface circuitry 410 may be capable ofcommunicating over any number of wired or wireless communicationinterfaces. In some embodiments, the interface circuitry 410 maycommunicate over Ethernet or other computer networking technologiesusing a variety of physical media interfaces such as, but not limitedto, coaxial, twisted-pair compare, and fiber-optics media interfaces.

The control circuitry 420 may be configured to provide higher-layeroperations that include generating and processing signals transmittedand received by the interface circuitry 410.

In some embodiments, the device 400 may be a UE (e.g., UE 115), an eNB(e.g., eNB 115), a gateway (e.g., GW-C 125, GW-U 105), a mobilitymanagement entity (MME), a home subscriber server (HSS), a servinggateway (SGW), a PGW (e.g., PGW 120), an AS (e.g., AS 140), a PCRF(e.g., PCRF 150), an AS MANO (AS MANO 145), or any other suitablenetwork element as described herein with respect to various embodiments.The control circuitry 420 may be configured to provide the geographicalidentifier in the various messages transmitted by the interfacecircuitry as described herein. In some embodiments, the device 400 maybe configured to perform one or more processes, techniques, and/ormethods as described herein, or portions thereof.

In some embodiments where the device 400 is, implements, is incorporatedinto, or is otherwise part of a GW-U 105, the control circuitry 420 maybe to control the interface circuitry 410 to communicate with the NB 110over a first interface (e.g., S1-U interface), communicate with the GW-C125 over a second interface (e.g., Xc interface 135), and communicatewith the AS 140 over a third interface (e.g., SGi interface).

In embodiments where the device 400 is, implements, is incorporatedinto, or is otherwise part of an AS MANO 145, the control circuitry 420can include instruction to instruct the PCRF 150 to configure the GW-U105 with a forwarding or reselection policy. Additionally, the interfacecircuitry 410 can transmit the instruction to the PCRF 150 over an Rxinterface 155.

Embodiments described herein may be implemented into a system using anysuitably configured hardware and/or software. FIG. 5 illustrates, forone embodiment, example components of a computing apparatus 500, whichmay comprise, be part of, or be implemented in be a UE (e.g., UE 115),an eNB (e.g., eNB 115), a gateway (e.g., GW-C 125, GW-U 105), a mobilitymanagement entity (MME), a home subscriber server (HSS), a servinggateway (SGW), a PGW (e.g., PGW 120), an AS (e.g., AS 140), a PCRF(e.g., PCRF 150), an AS MANO (AS MANO 145), or any other suitableelectronic device.

The computing apparatus 500 may include one or more processors 510coupled with one or more storage media 520. The processors 510 mayinclude one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The processorsmay include any combination of general-purpose processors and dedicatedprocessors including, for example, digital signal processors (DSPs),central processing units (CPUs), microprocessors, memory controllers(integrated or discrete), and so on.

The storage media 520 may be used to load and store data or instructions(collectively “logic”) 530 for operations performed by the processors510. The storage media 520 may include any combination of suitablevolatile memory and non-volatile memory. The storage media 520 mayinclude any combination of various levels of memory/storage including,but not limited to, read-only memory (ROM) having embedded softwareinstructions (e.g., firmware), random access memory (e.g., dynamicrandom access memory (DRAM)), cache, buffers, and so on. The storagemedia may be shared among the various processors or dedicated toparticular processors.

In some embodiments, one or more of the processors 510 may be combinedwith one or more storage media 520 and, possibly other circuitry in asingle chip, a single chipset, or disposed on a same circuit board insome embodiments.

The computing apparatus 500 may perform one or more of the operationsdescribed above with respect to the control circuitry 410 or withrespect to the interface circuitry 420.

In some embodiments, the computing apparatus 500 may be configured toperform one or more processes, techniques, and/or methods as describedherein, or portions thereof. Some of these processes are described inthe following examples. Furthermore, in some embodiments, the computingapparatus 500 may be configured to implement the control circuitry orthe interface circuitry described with regard to FIG. 4.

In some embodiments, the electronic devices of FIGS. 4 and 5 may beconfigured to perform one or more processes, techniques, or methods asdescribed herein, or portions thereof. FIGS. 6 and 7 describe processesthat can be performed by the electronic devices of FIGS. 4 and 5.

Techniques in Selecting a User-Plane Path

FIG. 6 illustrates the operation of a method 600 for a (re)selection ofa user-plane path, in accordance with some embodiments. Method 600 canbe performed by the GW-U 105, the electronic device 400 and thecomputing apparatus 500, and so on. Embodiments are not limited to theseconfigurations, however, and some or all of the techniques andoperations described herein may be applied to any systems or networks.

It is important to note that embodiments of the method 600 may includeadditional or even fewer operations or processes in comparison to whatis illustrated in FIG. 6. In addition, embodiments of the method 600 arenot necessarily limited to the chronological order that is shown in FIG.6. In describing the method 600, reference may be made to FIGS. 1-5,although it is understood that the method 600 may be practiced with anyother suitable systems, interfaces, and components.

In addition, while the method 600 and other methods described herein mayrefer to GW-U 105, eNBs 110, or UEs 115 operating in accordance with3GPP or other standards, embodiments of those methods are not limited tojust those GW-U 105, eNBs 110 or UEs 115 and may also be practiced bythe PGW 120, the serving gateway (SGW), the AS MANO 145, or other mobiledevices, such as a Wi-Fi access point (AP) or user station (STA).Moreover, the method 600 and other methods described herein may bepracticed by wireless devices configured to operate in other suitabletypes of wireless communication systems, including systems configured tooperate according to various IEEE standards such as IEEE 802.11.

The method 600 can be performed by an apparatus of the GW-U 105configured to operate for the edge service in a mobile network. Themobile network can be a fifth generation (5G) mobile network or beyond.

At operation 610 of the method 600, an apparatus of a user-plane gateway(GW-U) (e.g., GW-U 105) can be configured to decode a packet receivedfrom a control plane gateway (GW-C) in a packet data network gateway(PGW) over an Xc interface to determine a forwarding policy. Forexample, as previously described at operation 306 in FIG. 3, the packetcontains the forwarding policy and is received from the GW-C 125 in thePGW 120. The forwarding policy can be configured by the AS MANO 145entity. The apparatus can comprise of memory and processing circuitry.In some instances, the processing circuitry can be the control circuitry410 of the electronic device 400 in FIG. 4, or the processors 510 of thecomputer apparatus 500 in FIG. 5.

At operation 620, the GW-U 105, using the processing circuitry, candecode an internet protocol (IP) packet to determine the header fieldcontained in the IP packet. The IP packet can be received from the UE115 via the eNB 110. For example, operation 316 in FIG. 3 illustratesthe GW-U 105 receiving the IP packet. Additionally, the header field caninclude an IP source address, an IP destination address, a port sourceaddress, a port destination address, and a protocol identity. In someinstances, the processing circuitry can be the control circuitry 410 ofthe electronic device 400 in FIG. 4, or the processors 510 of thecomputer apparatus 500 in FIG. 5.

At operation 630, the GW-U 105, using the processing circuitry, candetermine a user-plane path for the IP packet based on a comparison ofthe header field and the forwarding policy. As previously mentioned, theheader field can be received from the eNB 110 at operation 620, and theforwarding policy can be received from the GW-C 125 at operation 610. Insome instances, the processing circuitry can be the control circuitry410 of the electronic device 400 in FIG. 4, or the processors 510 of thecomputer apparatus 500 in FIG. 5.

Additionally, the operation 630 further includes an action beingperformed on the IP packet, by the GW-U 105, based on the determineduser-plane path. For example, as previously described, the action 240 inFIG. 2 illustrates how the GW-U 105 handles the packet with the matchingfield. Method 700 in FIG. 7 further describes the different actions thatcan be performed by the GW-U 105 based on the determined user-planepath. In some instances, the processing circuitry can be the controlcircuitry 410 of the electronic device 400 in FIG. 4, or the processors510 of the computer apparatus 500 in FIG. 5.

At operation 640, the GW-U 105, using processing circuitry, can encodethe IP packet transmission based on the user-plane path determined atoperation 630. For example, the IP packet is forwarded to a local AS140, the IP packet is encapsulated and forwarded to PGW 120, or the IPpacket is dropped. In some instances, the processing circuitry can bethe control circuitry 410 of the electronic device 400 in FIG. 4, or theprocessors 510 of the computer apparatus 500 in FIG. 5.

Additionally, the method 600 can include an operation where theprocessing circuitry is further configured to increment a counterassociated with the local AS when the IP packet is forwarded to thelocal AS. Alternatively, the processing circuitry is configured torefrain from incrementing a counter when the IP packet is forwarded tothe PGW.

In some instances, the IP packet is a domain name system (DNS) requestreceived from UE 115. When the IP packet is a DNS request, the method600 can include an operation where the GW-U is further configured totransmit the DNS request to GSLB system 355. The GSLB system 355 canhave an address name (ANAME) record associated with an IP address of alocal AS for the DNS request. Additionally, the GW-U 105 can receive aDNS response from the GSLB system 355. The DNS response having the IPaddress. Moreover, the GW-U 105 can transmit the DNS response to the UE.Furthermore, the memory in the GW-U 105 is further configured to storethe IP address corresponding with the local AS.

FIG. 7 illustrates the operation of a method 700 for performingdifferent actions based on the user-plane path determined in method 600,in accordance with some embodiments. Method 700 can be performed by theGW-U 105. It is important to note that embodiments of the method 700 mayinclude additional or even fewer operations or processes in comparisonto what is illustrated in FIG. 7. In addition, embodiments of the method700 are not necessarily limited to the chronological order that is shownin FIG. 7. In describing the method 700, reference may be made to FIGS.1-6, although it is understood that the method 700 may be practiced withany other suitable systems, interfaces, and components.

In addition, while the method 700 and other methods described herein mayrefer to the GW-U 105 operating in accordance with 3GPP or otherstandards, embodiments of those methods are not limited to just thosethe GW-U 105 and may also be practiced by the PGW 120, eNB 110, or othermobile devices, such as a Wi-Fi AP or STA. Moreover, the method 700, andother methods described herein, may be practiced by wireless devicesconfigured to operate in other suitable types of wireless communicationsystems, including systems configured to operate according to variousIEEE standards such as IEEE 802.11.

The method 700 can be performed by an apparatus of the GW-U 105configured to operate for the edge service in a mobile network. Themobile network can be a fifth generation (5G) mobile network or beyond.

As previously discussed, the user-plane path is determined by operation630 in FIG. 6. Based on the determined user-plane path, the GW-U 105 canperform an action with regards to the IP packet received at operation620 in FIG. 6. The action performed is either operation 710, operation720, or operation 730 based on the determined user-plane path.

At operation 710, the apparatus of the GW-U 105, using processingcircuitry, can forward the IP packet to a local AS (e.g., AS 140) whenthe header field corresponds to a rule from the forwarding policy. Therule is associated with the local AS. As previously discussed, theforwarding policy is received at operation 610 in FIG. 6, and the IPpacket is received at operation 620 in FIG. 6. In some instances, theprocessing circuitry can be the control circuitry 410 of the electronicdevice 400 in FIG. 4, or the processors 510 of the computer apparatus500 in FIG. 5.

Additionally, the operation 710 can include an operation where theprocessing circuitry is further configured to increment a counterassociated with the local AS when the IP packet is forwarded to thelocal AS.

For example, at operation 710, the IP packet is forwarded to the localAS without encapsulation when the header field corresponds to the rule.The local AS can be a local network. Therefore, the forwarding atoperation 710 can be performing by offloading the IP packet at the localnetwork.

Moreover, the header field corresponds to the rule when the header fieldmatches the rule associated with the local AS. For example, the headerfield includes an IP source address, an IP destination address, a portsource address, a port destination address, and a protocol identity. Theheader field matches the rule associated with the local AS when the IPsource address, the IP destination address, the port source address, theport destination address, and the protocol identity of the header fieldmatch with the IP source address, the IP destination address, the portsource address, the port destination address, and the protocol identityof the rule. In some instances, the header field matches the rule whenone or more of the header fields (e.g., IP source address, an IPdestination address, a port source address, a port destination address,and a protocol identity) match.

Alternatively, at operation 720, the GW-U 105, using processingcircuitry, can discard the IP packet when the header field correspondsto another rule from the forwarding policy associated with discardingthe IP packet. For example, the forwarding policy can have a rule thatan IP packet from a specific IP source address or to a specific IPdestination is to be discarded. As previously discussed, the forwardingpolicy is received at operation 610 in FIG. 6, and the IP packet isreceived at operation 620 in FIG. 6. In some instances, the processingcircuitry can be the control circuitry 410 of the electronic device 400in FIG. 4, or the processors 510 of the computer apparatus 500 in FIG.5.

Alternatively, at operation 730, the GW-U 105, using processingcircuitry, can encapsulate and forward the IP packet to the PGW 120 whenthe header field does not correspond to a rule from the forwardingpolicy. In some instances, the determined user plane path is through anevolved packet core (EPC) when the IP packet is forwarded to the PGW. Aspreviously discussed, the forwarding policy is received at operation 610in FIG. 6, and the IP packet is received at operation 620 in FIG. 6. Insome instances, the processing circuitry can be the control circuitry410 of the electronic device 400 in FIG. 4, or the processors 510 of thecomputer apparatus 500 in FIG. 5.

Additionally, the operation 730 can include an operation where theprocessing circuitry is further configured processing circuitry isconfigured to refrain from incrementing a counter when the IP packet isforwarded to the PGW.

Example UE

As used herein, the term “circuitry” may refer to, be part of, orinclude an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an electroniccircuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group), and/or memory(shared, dedicated, or group) that execute one or more software orfirmware programs, a combinational logic circuit, and/or other suitablehardware components that provide the described functionality. In someembodiments, the circuitry may be implemented in, or functionsassociated with the circuitry may be implemented by, one or moresoftware or firmware modules. In some embodiments, circuitry may includelogic, at least partially operable in hardware.

Embodiments described herein may be implemented into a system using anysuitably configured hardware and/or software. FIG. 8 illustrates, forone embodiment, example components of a User Equipment (UE) device or agateway 800, such as a user-plane gateway (GW-U). In some instances, thegateway 800 can be the GW-C 125, the GW-U 105, the electronic device 400or the computing apparatus 500. In some instances, the UE device in FIG.8 can be UE 115. In some embodiments, the gateway 800 may includeapplication circuitry 802, baseband circuitry 804, Radio Frequency (RF)circuitry 806, front-end module (FEM) circuitry 808 and one or moreantennas 810, coupled together at least as shown.

The application circuitry 802 may include one or more applicationprocessors. For example, the application circuitry 802 may includecircuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core ormulti-core processors. The processor(s) may include any combination ofgeneral-purpose processors and dedicated processors (e.g., graphicsprocessors, application processors, etc.). The processors may be coupledwith and/or may include memory/storage and may be configured to executeinstructions stored in the memory/storage to enable various applicationsand/or operating systems to run on the system.

The baseband circuitry 804 may include circuitry such as, but notlimited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. Thebaseband circuitry 804 may include one or more baseband processorsand/or control logic to process baseband signals received from a receivesignal path of the RF circuitry 806 and to generate baseband signals fora transmit signal path of the RF circuitry 806. Baseband processingcircuitry 804 may interface with the application circuitry 802 forgeneration and processing of the baseband signals and for controllingoperations of the RF circuitry 806. For example, in some embodiments,the baseband circuitry 804 may include a second generation (2G) basebandprocessor 804 a, third generation (3G) baseband processor 804 b, fourthgeneration (4G) baseband processor 804 c, and/or other basebandprocessor(s) 804 d for other existing generations, generations indevelopment or to be developed in the future (e.g., fifth generation(5G), 6G, etc.). The baseband circuitry 804 (e.g., one or more ofbaseband processors 804 a-d) may handle various radio control functionsthat enable communication with one or more radio networks via the RFcircuitry 806. The radio control functions may include, but are notlimited to, signal modulation/demodulation, encoding/decoding, radiofrequency shifting, etc. In some embodiments, modulation/demodulationcircuitry of the baseband circuitry 804 may include Fast-FourierTransform (FFT), precoding, and/or constellation mapping/demappingfunctionality. In some embodiments, encoding/decoding circuitry of thebaseband circuitry 804 may include convolution, tail-biting convolution,turbo, Viterbi, and/or Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) encoder/decoderfunctionality. Embodiments of modulation/demodulation andencoder/decoder functionality are not limited to these examples and mayinclude other suitable functionality in other embodiments.

In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 804 may include elements ofa protocol stack such as, for example, elements of an evolved universalterrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN) protocol including, forexample, physical (PHY), media access control (MAC), radio link control(RLC), packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), and/or radio resourcecontrol (RRC) elements. A central processing unit (CPU) 804 e of thebaseband circuitry 804 may be configured to run elements of the protocolstack for signaling of the PHY, MAC, RLC, PDCP and/or RRC layers. Insome embodiments, the baseband circuitry may include one or more audiodigital signal processor(s) (DSP) 804 f. The audio DSP(s) 804 f may beinclude elements for compression/decompression and echo cancellation andmay include other suitable processing elements in other embodiments.Components of the baseband circuitry may be suitably combined in asingle chip, a single chipset, or disposed on a same circuit board insome embodiments. In some embodiments, some or all of the constituentcomponents of the baseband circuitry 804 and the application circuitry802 may be implemented together such as, for example, on a system on achip (SOC).

In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 804 may provide forcommunication compatible with one or more radio technologies. Forexample, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 804 may supportcommunication with an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network(EUTRAN) and/or other wireless metropolitan area networks (WMAN), awireless local area network (WLAN), a wireless personal area network(WPAN). Embodiments in which the baseband circuitry 804 is configured tosupport radio communications of more than one wireless protocol may bereferred to as multi-mode baseband circuitry.

RF circuitry 806 may enable communication with wireless networks usingmodulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. Invarious embodiments, the RF circuitry 806 may include switches, filters,amplifiers, etc. to facilitate the communication with the wirelessnetwork. RF circuitry 806 may include a receive signal path which mayinclude circuitry to down-convert RF signals received from the FEMcircuitry 808 and provide baseband signals to the baseband circuitry804. RF circuitry 806 may also include a transmit signal path which mayinclude circuitry to up-convert baseband signals provided by thebaseband circuitry 804 and provide RF output signals to the FEMcircuitry 808 for transmission.

In some embodiments, the RF circuitry 806 may include a receive signalpath and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the RFcircuitry 806 may include mixer circuitry 806 a, amplifier circuitry 806b and filter circuitry 806 c. The transmit signal path of the RFcircuitry 806 may include filter circuitry 806 c and mixer circuitry 806a. RF circuitry 806 may also include synthesizer circuitry 806 d forsynthesizing a frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 806 a of thereceive signal path and the transmit signal path. In some embodiments,the mixer circuitry 806 a of the receive signal path may be configuredto down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 808 based onthe synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuitry 806 d. Theamplifier circuitry 806 b may be configured to amplify thedown-converted signals and the filter circuitry 806 c may be a low-passfilter (LPF) or band-pass filter (BPF) configured to remove unwantedsignals from the down-converted signals to generate output basebandsignals. Output baseband signals may be provided to the basebandcircuitry 804 for further processing. In some embodiments, the outputbaseband signals may be zero-frequency baseband signals, although thisis not a requirement. In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 806 a of thereceive signal path may comprise passive mixers, although the scope ofthe embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 806 a of the transmit signalpath may be configured to up-convert input baseband signals based on thesynthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuitry 806 d togenerate RF output signals for the FEM circuitry 808. The basebandsignals may be provided by the baseband circuitry 804 and may befiltered by filter circuitry 806 c. The filter circuitry 806 c mayinclude a low-pass filter (LPF), although the scope of the embodimentsis not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 806 a of the receive signalpath and the mixer circuitry 806 a of the transmit signal path mayinclude two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadraturedownconversion and/or upconversion respectively. In some embodiments,the mixer circuitry 806 a of the receive signal path and the mixercircuitry 806 a of the transmit signal path may include two or moremixers and may be arranged for image rejection (e.g., Hartley imagerejection). In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 806 a of thereceive signal path and the mixer circuitry 806 a may be arranged fordirect downconversion and/or direct upconversion, respectively. In someembodiments, the mixer circuitry 806 a of the receive signal path andthe mixer circuitry 806 a of the transmit signal path may be configuredfor super-heterodyne operation.

In some embodiments, the output baseband signals and the input basebandsignals may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of theembodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternateembodiments, the output baseband signals and the input baseband signalsmay be digital baseband signals. In these alternate embodiments, the RFcircuitry 806 may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) anddigital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry and the baseband circuitry804 may include a digital baseband interface to communicate with the RFcircuitry 806.

In some dual-mode embodiments, a separate radio IC circuitry may beprovided for processing signals for each spectrum, although the scope ofthe embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 806 d may be afractional-N synthesizer or a fractional N/N+1 synthesizer, although thescope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect as other typesof frequency synthesizers may be suitable. For example, synthesizercircuitry 806 d may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequencymultiplier, or a synthesizer comprising a phase-locked loop with afrequency divider.

The synthesizer circuitry 806 d may be configured to synthesize anoutput frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 806 a of the RFcircuitry 806 based on a frequency input and a divider control input. Insome embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 806 d may be a fractionalN/N+1 synthesizer.

In some embodiments, frequency input may be provided by a voltagecontrolled oscillator (VCO), although that is not a requirement. Dividercontrol input may be provided by either the baseband circuitry 804 orthe applications processor 802 depending on the desired outputfrequency. In some embodiments, a divider control input (e.g., N) may bedetermined from a look-up table based on a channel indicated by theapplications processor 802.

Synthesizer circuitry 806 d of the RF circuitry 806 may include adivider, a delay-locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer and a phaseaccumulator. In some embodiments, the divider may be a dual modulusdivider (DMD) and the phase accumulator may be a digital phaseaccumulator (DPA). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured todivide the input signal by either N or N+1 (e.g., based on a carry out)to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example embodiments, theDLL may include a set of cascaded, tunable, delay elements, a phasedetector, a charge pump and a D-type flip-flop. In these embodiments,the delay elements may be configured to break a VCO period up into Ndequal packets of phase, where Nd is the number of delay elements in thedelay line. In this way, the DLL provides negative feedback to helpensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle.

In some embodiments, synthesizer circuitry 806 d may be configured togenerate a carrier frequency as the output frequency, while in otherembodiments, the output frequency may be a multiple of the carrierfrequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrierfrequency) and used in conjunction with quadrature generator and dividercircuitry to generate multiple signals at the carrier frequency withmultiple different phases with respect to each other. In someembodiments, the output frequency may be a LO frequency (fLO). In someembodiments, the RF circuitry 806 may include an IQ/polar converter.

FEM circuitry 808 may include a receive signal path which may includecircuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from one or moreantennas 1140, amplify the received signals and provide the amplifiedversions of the received signals to the RF circuitry 806 for furtherprocessing. FEM circuitry 808 may also include a transmit signal pathwhich may include circuitry configured to amplify signals fortransmission provided by the RF circuitry 806 for transmission by one ormore of the one or more antennas 810.

In some embodiments, the FEM circuitry 808 may include a TX/RX switch toswitch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEMcircuitry may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path.The receive signal path of the FEM circuitry may include a low-noiseamplifier (LNA) to amplify received RF signals and provide the amplifiedreceived RF signals as an output (e.g., to the RF circuitry 806). Thetransmit signal path of the FEM circuitry 808 may include a poweramplifier (PA) to amplify input RF signals (e.g., provided by RFcircuitry 806), and one or more filters to generate RF signals forsubsequent transmission (e.g., by one or more of the one or moreantennas 810.

In some embodiments, the gateway 800 may include additional elementssuch as, for example, memory/storage, display, camera, sensor, and/orinput/output (110) interface.

Examples

Example 1 is an apparatus of a user-plane gateway (GW-U), the apparatuscomprising: memory; and processing circuitry, configured to: decode apacket received from a control plane gateway (GW-C) in a packet datanetwork gateway (PGW) over an Xc interface to determine a forwardingpolicy; and decode, from an evolved node B (eNB), an internet protocol(IP) packet, the IP packet having a header field; determine a user-planepath for the IP packet based on a comparison of the header field and theforwarding policy; and encode the IP packet for transmission based onthe determined user-plane path.

Wherein based on the determined user-plane path, the processingcircuitry is configured to: forward the IP packet to a local applicationserver (AS) when the header field corresponds to a rule from theforwarding policy that is associated with the local AS; or encapsulateand forward the IP packet to the PGW when the header field does notcorrespond to a rule from the forwarding policy.

Example 2 includes the apparatus of Example 1, wherein the IP packet isforwarded to the local AS without encapsulation when the header fieldcorresponds to the rule.

Example 3 includes the apparatus of Example 1 or 2, wherein the IPpacket is forwarded to the local AS by offloading the IP packet to alocal network.

Example 4 includes the apparatus of Example 1-3, wherein the headerfield corresponds to the rule when the header field match the ruleassociated with the local AS.

Example 5 includes the apparatus of Example 1-4, wherein the headerfield includes an IP source address, an IP destination address, a portsource address, a port destination address, and a protocol identity, andwherein the IP source address, the IP destination address, the portsource address, the port destination address, and the protocol identitymatch the rule associated with the local AS.

Example 6 includes the apparatus of Example 1-5, wherein the processingcircuitry is further configured to: increment a counter associated withthe local AS when the IP packet is forwarded to the local AS.

Example 7 includes the apparatus of Example 1-5, wherein the processingcircuitry is further configured to: refrain from incrementing a counterwhen the IP packet is forwarded to the PGW.

Example 8 includes the apparatus of Example 1-7, wherein the determineduser plane path is through an evolved packet core (EPC) when the IPpacket is forwarded to the PGW.

Example 9 includes the apparatus of Example 1-8, wherein the determineduser-plane path further includes discarding the IP packet when theheader field corresponds to another rule from the forwarding policyassociated with discarding the IP packet.

Example 10 includes the apparatus of Example 1, wherein the IP packet isa domain name system (DNS) request received from a user equipment (UE).

Example 11 includes the apparatus of Example 10, wherein the processingcircuitry is further configured to: transmit the DNS request to a globalserver load balancing (GSLB) system, the GSLB system having an addressname (ANAME) record associated with an IP address of a local AS for theDNS request; receive a DNS response from the GSLB system, the DNSresponse having the IP address; and transmit the DNS response to the UE;and wherein the memory is further configured to store the IP addresscorresponding with the local AS.

Example 12 includes the apparatus of Example 1-11, wherein theforwarding policy is configured by an application server (AS) managementand Orchestration (MANO) entity.

Example 13 is a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium thatstores instructions for execution by one or more processors to performoperations for any of the Examples 1-12.

Example 14 is the GW-U of any of the Examples 1-12.

Example 15 is the network entity of any of Examples 1-12.

Example 16 may include any of the methods of communicating in a wirelessnetwork as shown and described herein.

Example 17 may include any of the systems for providing wirelesscommunication as shown and described herein.

Example 18 may include any of the devices for providing wirelesscommunication as shown and described herein.

The foregoing description of one or more implementations provideillustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or tolimit the scope of the embodiments disclosed herein to the precise formdisclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of theabove teachings or may be acquired from practice of variousimplementations of the embodiments disclosed herein.

Language

Throughout this specification, plural instances may implementcomponents, operations, or structures described as a single instance.Although individual operations of one or more methods are illustratedand described as separate operations, one or more of the individualoperations may be performed concurrently, and nothing requires that theoperations be performed in the order illustrated. Structures andfunctionality presented as separate components in example configurationsmay be implemented as a combined structure or component. Similarly,structures and functionality presented as a single component may beimplemented as separate components. These and other variations,modifications, additions, and improvements fall within the scope of thesubject matter herein.

Although an overview of the inventive subject matter has been describedwith reference to specific example embodiments, various modificationsand changes may be made to these embodiments without departing from thebroader scope of embodiments of the present disclosure. Such embodimentsof the inventive subject matter may be referred to herein, individuallyor collectively, by the term “invention” merely for convenience andwithout intending to voluntarily limit the scope of this application toany single disclosure or inventive concept if more than one is, in fact,disclosed.

The embodiments illustrated herein are described in sufficient detail toenable those skilled in the art to practice the teachings disclosed.Other embodiments may be used and derived therefrom, such thatstructural and logical substitutions and changes may be made withoutdeparting from the scope of this disclosure. The Detailed Description,therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope ofvarious embodiments is defined only by the appended claims, along withthe full range of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

As used herein, the term “or” may be construed in either an inclusive orexclusive sense. Moreover, plural instances may be provided forresources, operations, or structures described herein as a singleinstance. Additionally, boundaries between various resources,operations, modules, engines, and data stores are somewhat arbitrary,and particular operations are illustrated in a context of specificillustrative configurations. Other allocations of functionality areenvisioned and may fall within a scope of various embodiments of thepresent disclosure. In general, structures and functionality presentedas separate resources in the example configurations may be implementedas a combined structure or resource. Similarly, structures andfunctionality presented as a single resource may be implemented asseparate resources. These and other variations, modifications,additions, and improvements fall within a scope of embodiments of thepresent disclosure as represented by the appended claims. Thespecification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in anillustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus of a user-plane gateway (GW-U), theapparatus comprising: memory; and processing circuitry, configured to:decode a packet received from a control plane gateway (GW-C) in a packetdata network gateway (PGW) over an Xc interface to determine aforwarding policy; and decode, from an evolved node B (eNB), first andsecond internet protocol (IP) packets, each of the first and second IPpackets having a respective header field; determine respectiveuser-plane paths for the first and second IP packets based on acomparison of the respective header fields of the first and second IPpackets and the forwarding policy, wherein based on the determinedrespective user-plane paths, the processing circuitry is configured to:forward the first IP packet to a local application server (AS) responseto the header field of the first IP packet corresponding to a rule fromthe forwarding policy that is associated with the local AS; andencapsulate and forward the second IP packet to the PGW in response tothe header field of the second IP packet not corresponding to a rulefrom the forwarding policy; and encode the first and second IP packetsfor transmission based on the respective determined user-plane paths. 2.The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first IP packet is forwarded tothe local AS without encapsulation in response to the header field ofthe first IP packet corresponding to the rule.
 3. The apparatus of claim1, wherein the first IP packet is forwarded to the local AS byoffloading the first IP packet to a local network.
 4. The apparatus ofclaim 1, wherein the header field of the first packet corresponds to therule when the header field of the first packet matches the ruleassociated with the local AS.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein theheader field includes an IP source address, an IP destination address, aport source address, a port destination address, and a protocolidentity.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitryis further configured to: increment a counter associated with the localAS in response to forwarding the first IP packet to the local AS.
 7. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is furtherconfigured to: refrain from incrementing a counter in response toforwarding the second IP packet to the PGW.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the determined user plane path for the second IP packet isthrough an evolved packet core (EPC).
 9. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the determined user-plane path further includes discarding athird IP packet in response to the third IP packet having a header fieldcorresponding to another rule from the forwarding policy associated withdiscarding IP packets.
 10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the atleast one of the first and second IP packets is a domain name system(DNS) request received from a user equipment (UE).
 11. The apparatus ofclaim 10, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:transmit the DNS request to a global server load balancing (GSLB)system, the GSLB system having an address name (ANAME) record associatedwith an IP address of a local AS for the DNS request; receive a DNSresponse from the GSLB system, the DNS response having the IP address;and transmit the DNS response to the UE; and wherein the memory isfurther configured to store the IP address corresponding with the localAS.
 12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the forwarding policy isconfigured by an application server (AS) management and orchestration(MANO) entity.
 13. A non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumthat stores instructions for execution by one or more processors toperform operations for selecting a user-plane path, the operationsconfigured to: decode a packet received a packet data network gateway(PGW) to determine a forwarding policy; and decode first and secondinternet protocol (IP) packets, each of the first and second IP packetshaving a respective header field; determine respective user-plane pathsfor the first and second IP packets based on a comparison of therespective header fields of the first and second IP packets and theforwarding policy, wherein based on the determined respective user-planepaths, the operations are further configured to: forward the first IPpacket to a local application server (AS) in response to the headerfield of the first IP packet corresponding to a rule from the forwardingpolicy that is associated with the local AS; and encapsulate and forwardthe second IP packet to the PGW in response to the header field of thesecond IP packet not corresponding to a rule from the forwarding policy;and encode the first and second IP packets for transmission based on therespective determined user-plane paths.
 14. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the packet isreceived from a control plane gateway (GW-C) over an Xc interface, andwherein the IP packet is received from an evolved node B (eNB).
 15. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein thefirst IP packet is forwarded by offloading to the local AS withoutencapsulation responsive to the header field of the first packetcorresponding to the rule, and wherein the local AS is a local network.16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13,wherein the header fields of the first and second IP packets eachincludes an IP source address, an IP destination address, a port sourceaddress, a port destination address, and a protocol identity.
 17. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein theoperations are further configured to: refrain from incrementing acounter when the second IP packet is forwarded to the PGW.
 18. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein thedetermined user-plane path further includes discarding a third IP packetin response to a header field of the third packet corresponding toanother rule from the forwarding policy associated with discarding IPpackets.
 19. An apparatus of a user-plane gateway (GW-U), the apparatuscomprising: memory; and processing circuitry, configured to: decode apacket received from a control plane gateway (GW-C) in a packet datanetwork gateway (PGW) over an Xc interface to determine a forwardingpolicy; and decode, from an evolved node B (eNB), first and secondinternet protocol (IP) packets, each of the first and second IP packetshaving a respective header field; determine, using a processor,respective user-plane paths for the first and second IP packets based ona comparison of the respective header fields of the first and second IPpackets and the forwarding policy, wherein based on the determinedrespective user-plane paths, the processor further configured to:forward the first IP packet to a local application server (AS) inresponse to the header field of the first IP packet corresponding to afirst rule from the forwarding policy that is associated with the localAS; and discard the second IP packet in response to the header field ofthe second packet corresponding to a second rule from the forwardingpolicy associated with discarding IP packets; and transmit the first IPpacket.
 20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the first IP packet isforwarded to the local AS without encapsulation in response to theheader field of the first IP packet corresponding to the first rule, andwherein the first IP packet is forwarded to the local AS by offloadingthe first IP packet to a local network.